Online/Digital Classroom Presence April 11, 2016 Tonight's - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Online/Digital Classroom Presence

April 11, 2016

Tonight's Discussion Topics

• Student & parent online communication needs
• Online/digital teacher expectations for 2016-2017
• Management systems and tools
• Operationalizing the expectations
• Feedback, discussion, direction and next steps

Student & Parent Needs

Students and parents need a clear, consistent way to access this information for all classes:

• Class syllabus including expectations & policies
• Calendar of upcoming assignments, assessments & projects
• Up-to-date class grades and attendance
• Centralized location for class materials & resources (Students)
• Access to instructional materials when not in school (Students)

These are communication needs, not technological ones

Teacher Online/Digital Expectations

In order to meet the student and parent needs as described, teachers will:

• Maintain & share a calendar of upcoming assignments,

assessments & projects

• Update grades in Teacher Access Center (TAC) regularly
• Share a course syllabus based on a pre-defined template
• Provide access to digital classroom materials and resources, as

appropriate and needed

Today’s Reality In our world, we all expect to be able to...

Process to Date

Instructional Technology Steering Committee [Research & draft] Executive Council [Review, adjust & approve] Department Chairs & Faculty [Provide feedback]

Parents, Students & Teachers Say...

“Each teacher & staff member needs to agree on the same format. This becomes very unclear and confusing.” “Require all teachers to post calendars and assignments online.” “I would like to see District 99 use the same Google Apps for Education tools. Many students are confused on which tools they need to use for which class.”

Management Systems Abound

Key Features

• Common user interface
• Calendar management
• Communication and collaboration
• Managing and sharing curricular documents
• Assessment and analytics
• Student information system data integration
• Submission of student work

District 99 Core Systems

• Blackboard Learn
• eSchoolPLUS
• Google Apps for Education (GAFE)

○ Google Sites ○ Google Classroom

• Home Access Center (HAC)
• Teacher Access Center (TAC)
• Vast Internet Resources

Blackboard - Home Page

Blackboard - Class Page

Blackboard - Class Folders

Google

D99 Google Apps usage growing exponentially Last six months - 50% growth in D99 Google files

• One million file uploads to date, using
• ver five terabytes of disk storage

Google Sites

Google Classroom - Student Classes

Google Classroom - Student Stream

Google Classroom - Mobile App

Google Classroom - Teacher Stream

Home Access Center - Week View

Home Access Center - Calendar

Home Access Center - Links & Files

Home Access Center - Mobile App

A Compendium of Tools

Historical Context

• Blackboard (Bb)

○ A District 99 resource since 2003 ○ Teacher online presence & Bb usage: Always optional ○ Initial Bb usage levels high; very few other options

• As online access became the norm, teacher interest increased

○ Myriad new, alternative Internet-based tools arrived ○ Google Apps for Education arrived ○ Blackboard use simultaneously & significantly declined

• Google Classroom arrived capturing much attention
• Teacher online presence more prevalent, but still optional

Current Teacher Practice

• District 99 is a Google Apps for Education (GAFE) district

○ All students and staff have access to a wide array of tools ○ Google Classroom is used by more than 50% of our staff

• Myriad Internet-based tools are used by teachers who choose to

have an online presence ○ Except for TAC & Google Classroom, no one tool is used by more than 15% of our teachers for online presence

• All teachers use TAC to maintain grades for their classes
• All parents and students have access to HAC as their portal

Planned Implementation - Portal

• Teachers will:

○ Publish a course syllabus on TAC, based on a template ○ Create upcoming assignments, assessments & projects in TAC before date due ○ Continue to use TAC to post assignment grades regularly ○ Enter class activities into the TAC calendar, as appropriate All above information will be accessible to parents & students via the HAC portal

Planned Implementation - Resources

• Teachers will also:

○ Publish digital copies of class materials and resources for students, in a uniform online setting, as appropriate ○ A Google Apps for Education tool will be used for this purpose ■ Google Classroom is the preferred tool for document sharing and submission

Why This Approach?

○ All teachers use TAC ○ All teachers & students use Google Apps for Education ○ More than 50% of teachers use Google Classroom ○ All parents & students have access to the HAC portal ○ Consistent tools familiar to teachers, students & parents ○ Minimal training requirements for teachers ○ Minimal impact on teacher workflow and daily practice ○ Parents and students gain access to needed information

Next Steps

• Brown bag sessions with teachers to gather their input
• Make final adjustments based on all feedback
• Finalize implementation target dates & process
• Review final plan with Executive Council
• Plan training with Professional Growth Steering Committee
• Adjust systems and data interfaces as necessary
• Publicize implementation plan to faculty, students and parents

Questions & Discussion

Our focus tonight was...

• Student & parent online communication needs
• Online/digital teacher expectations for 2016-2017
• Management systems and tools
• Operationalizing the expectations